Tuesday 7 September 2010

Olivia Stefanino - Can you be spiritual and wealthy?


Our guest post today is by Olivia Stefanino, author of the management book, “Be Your Own Guru – personal and business enlightenment in just 3 days”. She has been interviewed on more than 87 radio programmes and has been featured in “The Guardian”,  the “Financial Times” and numerous other publications. 

I first met Olivia through the discussion forum of the TMS wiki, a website full of information and support for people with chronic pain and other symptoms, and she has gently prompted me to explore some of the unexamined beliefs that might be holding me back from achieving my goals. One such belief, that may well be an obstacle to many of us, is:

Do you believe you can’t be spiritual and wealthy?

Admit it – do you feel deep down that you can’t be both spiritual and wealthy?  If you’re one of the thousands of people who have deep-seated beliefs that when you’re earning money, you’re not being spiritual then you’re running on a negative pattern of self-sabotage…

Are you suffering from the symptoms?

¨    You work really hard – but never seem to make much progress
¨    When money comes in – so do bigger bills
¨    You can’t attract enough full-fee paying clients


Even though we’re not aware of them, all of us are running on sub-conscious beliefs that – until we investigate them – get in the way of our success. For example, you may have been told as a child that “money doesn’t grow on trees” or that “you should never try to get above your station in life”. 

While the comments may have been made by parents who were keen to teach their children not to be demanding, the result often is a “poverty mentality”.  When we think “poor”, we give off an energy of poverty – and this is what we attract.  Learning to change – consciously – the pattern is vital if you’re to succeed in life.

Changing your thinking is as simple as deciding that what may have been right for your parents and teachers isn’t necessarily right for you now.  It’s also about giving your conscious mind some positive – and believable - reasons for changing its patterns.

Firstly, in order to create an ideal world, we must learn to be mutually interdependent.  This means that while we’re able to look after ourselves, we’re also able to rely on others to provide us with what we need – and at the same time, they can rely on us providing them with what they need.

Or in other words, wouldn’t it be great if you could focus on doing what you do best, which would mean that you’d be earning enough to pay others to do what they do best. 

When you’re living with a poverty mindset, you have the belief that you can’t afford to pay anyone else – which is why you end up doing the jobs you probably loathe!  For example, if you’re fantastic at massage but hate book-keeping, it’s best for everyone if you focus on attracting massage clients – and with a small proportion of what you earn, you can then afford to pay someone else to look after your financial affairs! (And remember that all the while you’re doing your own books in this scenario, you’re doing a book keeper out of a job – how spiritual is that?!)

Manifesting is an important aspect of spirituality and it’s only the ego that believes you shouldn’t have oodles of money if you’re spiritual – not your soul.  The Universe is abundant!

Finally, ask yourself how spiritual it really is to live a life of poverty, stress and worry?  Start to see yourself as the co-creator of your own existence – and realise that you’re much more in charge of your own destiny than you may ever have believed!

Summary:

1.    Remember that we tend to earn what we believe we deserve. 
 

2.    Understand that in an ideal world, we’re all mutually interdependent.
 

3.    Focus on doing what you love doing – and what you do best, which means that you’ll be able to  afford to pay others to do what they love and do best.
 

4.    Recognise that manifesting is a key aspect of being spiritual – when we’re creating and manifesting we’re bringing our spirituality into the third dimension. The Universe is abundant.
 

5.    Inspire others who may be about to embark on their spiritual path by proving how being  spiritual means being abundant and joyful!


Author of the internationally acclaimed book, “Be Your Own Guru”, Olivia Stefanino is the creator of “The Personal Enlightenment And Release (PEAR) Process”.  To get your special free reports, “Discover why you must avoid these 7 deadly traps if you’re to get the health, wealth and happiness you deserve” visit www.thepearprocess.com

6 comments:

jeanlivingsimple said...

I believe "thoughts become things" and did have the thought that in order to be spiritual you had to be poor. So, I am not a stranger to this powerful teaching.
The second symptom: when more money comes in - so do bigger bills, is one pattern I have been trying to change and happily have had success. So I know this concept works.
Being grateful for what you do have while you are attracting more abundance has helped me also.
Thank-you Judy for having Olivia as your guest. She has an important message to share.

Judy Adamson said...

Thank you for your comments, Jean, and congratulations on your success in changing your pattern! Sometimes being grateful for what you have isn't easy but I agree that it's helpful when you can!

Carole Barkett said...

ahh...the hard part - getting people to pay you to do something you love.

Polly said...

I wonder if this is an "English" thing. It was only after emigrating to America (30 years ago now) that I became aware of how ingrained this "poverty" or "class" mentality is in us. It's almost like having a disability. I have a wonderful life here with everything I could ever dream of (A farm in the mountains, horses and other assorted animals,) I don't think my husband understands why I have to keep exclaiming "Isn't it wonderful?" "I just can't believe all this is ours". Of course we've worked hard and saved for everything, but I feel very guilty about it at times. I mean, heck, I have a Lancashire accent! That in itself was a major hold back in England. Back home anyone living in a house "with room for a pony" as Mrs. Bucket would say, was considered to be way above our station. "Semi-detatched" even, was hoi-paloi :) It's all so ridiculous when you're outside of that mindset looking back in. Does that make sense?

Judy Adamson said...

Hi Polly - what an interesting thought! It certainly makes sense and is worth exploring.

Has anyone else noticed this difference in mindset in different countries?

Olivia said...

Isn't it interesting how we're all so similar in our thinking?

I had the privilege of running an "Unlock Your Personal Power" workshop earlier this week with a fabulous group of attendees - and what came out of the group discussion was that everyone felt "less than" all the other people there...although they all could see that "everyone else" was living a successful life!

Just imagine how great we could all be if we lived up to our full potential, dropped the comparisons with others and simply got on with sharing our unique gifts with the world...

Let's paraphrase the famous Nike slogan and "Just be it"!